Partially flooding spar buoy

ABSTRACT

A partially flooding buoy includes a buoy body having a substantially cylindrical shape defining a cavity therein and a mooring mechanism attached to the buoy body to allow the buoy to be moored. The partially flooding buoy can be partially flooded with water after the buoy is deployed. The cavity is adapted to accommodate ballast therein. The buoy also includes at least one handle to allow more convenient handling of the buoy, wherein the handle is an opening formed within the buoy body.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to buoys and, more particularly, to sparbuoys.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A variety of buoys are deployed for various purposes in the waterways.One type of a buoy is a spar buoy or, also referred to as, a pencilbuoy. The spar or pencil buoys are typically used for marking purposesin the waterways and usually include signage thereon. The spar buoys aredeployed to remain afloat upright and include a solid cylindrical bodywith a lower portion and an upper portion. The lower portion istypically immersed under water and the upper portion is intended toprotrude above the water surface. The upper portion is utilized forvarious waterways makings, such as speed limits, slow down signs andother directional or warning signage.

The spar buoys come in various sizes. The size of the buoy deployeddepends on various factors, including the surface area required forsignage. The larger buoys require more material and, thus, are morecostly. Additionally, it is more expensive to ship larger and heavierbuoys. Therefore, it is desirable to have a larger buoy that is morecost-effective.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a partially flooding buoy includes abuoy body having a substantially cylindrical shape defining a cavitytherein and a mooring mechanism attached to the buoy body to allow thebuoy to be moored. The partially flooding buoy can be partially floodedwith water after the buoy is deployed. In a preferred embodiment, thecavity is a substantially cylindrical opening passing through the buoybody. The cavity is adapted to accommodate ballast therein. The ballastcan be added after the buoy is deployed and can be any type of weight,such as rocks or old chain or pieces thereof. The ballast is added asneeded for the buoy to be properly deployed.

In the preferred embodiment, the buoy includes at least one floodingopening to allow water to pass therethrough into the cavity. Theflooding opening is formed within a lower portion of the buoy body to besubmerged under water. In the preferred embodiment, the mooringmechanism includes a plate attached to the buoy body and a mooring ringfor allowing the buoy to be attached to the mooring. The mooring isattached to the buoy body by at least two bolts to ensure sturdyattachment. Additionally, in the preferred embodiment, the buoy includesat least one handle to allow more convenient handling of the buoy,wherein the handle is an opening formed within the buoy body.

The foregoing and other advantages of the present invention become moreapparent in light of the following detailed description of the exemplaryembodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a spar buoy, in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the spar buoy of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a buoy mounting of the spar buoy of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is sectional view of the spar buoy of FIG. 1 with ballastdisposed therein;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a spar buoy in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a partially broken away perspective view of a spar buoy withanother type of mooring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a spar buoy 10 includes a buoy body 12having an upper portion 14 and a lower portion 16. The buoy body 12includes a cavity 20 formed therein to define a wall 22 surrounding aninner space 24. The wall 22 comprises an outer surface 28 and an innersurface 30. In the preferred embodiment, the cavity 20 is asubstantially cylindrical through opening defining a substantiallycylindrical wall 22.

The buoy 10 also includes a mooring mechanism 32 disposed on the lowerportion 16 of the buoy body 12. The moorning mechanism 32, in thepreferred embodiment, includes a mooring plate 34 with a mooring ring36. The mooring plate 34 is secured to the buoy body 12 by means of abuoy mounting including a first bolt 40 passing through the buoy body 12and a second bolt 42 securing the mooning plate 34 to the first bolt 40,as best seen in FIG. 3. The first bolt 40 extends through the cavity 20and walls 22. The bolts 40, 42 are secured to the buoy wall 22 and tothe mooring plate, respectively, with bolt nuts 44.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the buoy 10 alsoincludes flooding openings 46 formed within the body wall 22 in thelower portion 16 thereof. The flooding openings 46 allow water to passtherethrough into the cavity 20 to partially flood the buoy 10.

In the preferred embodiment, the buoy 10 also includes handle openings50 formed within the upper portion 14 of the buoy body 12. The handleopenings 50 are sized to allow a person to place his/her hand therein.

Referring to FIG. 5, in another embodiment of the present invention, themooring plate 34 includes holes 51 to allow the water to enter thecavity 20 of the spar buoy 10 therethrough. In the embodiment, theflooding openings 46 shown in FIGS. 1-3 do not need to be formed.

In operation, as the buoy 10 is deployed, it is placed in the water withthe lower portion 16 of the buoy body 12 being submerged under thewater, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The buoy ring 36 is attached to amooring chain 52, as shown in FIG. 1. The water floods a portion of thebuoy through the flooding openings 46, as shown in FIG. 4, or throughthe holes 51 formed in the mooring plate 34, as shown in FIG. 5. Oncethe buoy 10 is placed in the water and chained/moored, the ballast 56 isadded, as shown in FIG. 4. The ballast 56 can be comprised of eitherstones or old chains or any other weight. The ballast is added until thebuoy is properly deployed. The handles 50 can be used to place the buoyin the water.

The buoy body 12 in the preferred embodiment is fabricated fromSOFTLITE® material fabricated by Gilman Corporation of Gilman, Conn.However, the buoy can be manufactured from other buoyant materials.

One major advantage of the present invention is that the buoy of thepresent invention self-rights after deployment. Once the buoy is placedin the water and ballast is added, the buoy self-rights with the properamount of ballast. Additionally, the buoy does not need to be removedfrom the water to adjust the amount of ballast, the additional weight,either stones or chain or any other heavy object(s), can be added afterdeployment into the cavity of the buoy.

Another major advantage of the present invention is that larger signagearea is available without adding cost to the buoy. Thus, larger buoy canbe manufactured with less material than a solid buoy, thereby minimizingcosts of the larger buoys.

A further major advantage of the present invention is that the hollowbuoy of the present invention is significantly lighter that the solidbuoy and can be shipped at much lower costs.

Yet a further advantage of the present invention is that the partiallyflooding buoy of the present invention is significantly easier to handlewhen deployed and/or removed from the water since it weighs less thanthe solid buoy and includes a handle for easier handling.

The buoy of the present invention is also sufficiently sturdy towithstand the weather conditions and prolonged deployment.

While the present invention has been illustrated and described withrespect to a particular embodiment thereof, it should be appreciated bythose of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications to thisinvention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention. For example, the cavity 20 of the buoy 10 does notneed to be a substantially cylindrical through opening, but rather canhave any shape to accommodate ballast and/or water therein. Also, themooring mechanism 32 can have various designs to allow attachment of themooring 52 to the buoy body 12. Additionally, mooring 52 can be either achain, as shown in FIG. 1, or a rope, as shown in FIG. 6, or any othertype of mooring. Furthermore, the buoy mounting comprising of bolts 40and 42 can have various configurations that allow attachment of themooring mechanism to the buoy body 12 or be an integral part thereof.

1. A buoy comprising: a buoy body defining a cavity therein, said buoybody having two ends with each end having an opening; and a mooringmechanism attached to the buoy body to allow the buoy to be moored;wherein the cavity can be flooded with water after the buoy is deployed.2. The buoy according to claim 1 wherein the cavity is a substantiallycylindrical opening passing through the buoy body.
 3. The buoy accordingto claim 1 wherein the cavity is adapted to accommodate ballast therein.4. The buoy body according to claim 1 wherein the buoy includes at leastone flooding opening to allow water to pass therethrough into thecavity.
 5. The buoy according to claim 4 wherein the at least oneflooding opening is formed within the buoy body.
 6. The buoy accordingto claim 5 wherein the at least one flooding opening is formed within alower portion of the buoy body to be submerged under water.
 7. The buoyaccording to claim 1 wherein the mooring mechanism comprises a plateattached to the buoy body and mooring means for allowing the buoy to beattached to the mooring.
 8. The buoy according to claim 7 wherein themooring means is a ring.
 9. The buoy according to claim 1 wherein themooring mechanism is attached to the buoy body by at least two bolts.10. The buoy according to claim 1 having at least one handle to allowmore convenient handling of the buoy.
 11. The buoy according to claim 1wherein the handle is an opening formed within the buoy body.
 12. Thebuoy according to claim 1 wherein the buoy is fabricated from plasticfoam or plastic foam sheeting material.
 13. A buoy comprising: a buoybody having a substantially cylindrical shape defining a cavity therein,said buoy body having two ends with at least one end being an open end;wherein the cavity is partially flooded with water after the buoy isdeployed.
 14. A buoy comprising: a buoy body having a substantiallycylindrical shape defining an opening therein, wherein the opening isadapted to accommodate ballast therein.
 15. A buoy comprising: a buoybody having a substantially cylindrical shape forming a cavity therein,wherein the cavity is adapted to accommodate ballast therein.
 16. Thebuoy according to claim 15 wherein the ballast is added after the buoyis deployed.
 17. The buoy according to claim 15 wherein the ballast isrocks.
 18. The buoy according to claim 15 wherein the ballast is chain.19. The buoy according to claim 15 wherein the buoy is partially floodedafter deployment.
 20. A method of deploying a spar buoy comprising thesteps of: lowering the spar buoy into a body of water; and addingballast into a cavity formed within the spar buoy to properly deploy thebuoy in the body of water.
 21. The method of deploying the spar buoyaccording to claim 20 comprising an intermediate step of: allowing thecavity formed within the spar buoy to flood with water.
 22. The buoyaccording to claim 14 wherein the ballast is added after the buoy isdeployed.
 23. The buoy according to claim 13 wherein both ends are open.